The Chugoku region is the westernmost part of the main island of Honshu.
It consists of 5 prefectures; Yamaguchi, Shimane, Hiroshima, Tottori and Okayama.
It can also be sub categorized into 2 more regions; Sanyo, facing the Inland Sea, and Sanin, facing the Sea of Japan.

PLACES TO VISIT

Hiroshima (Main Image)

Hiroshima is situated at the center of the Chugoku. The Chugoku Mountains, rising to a height of some 1,000 meters, extend from east to west in the northern part of Hiroshima, with highways and national routes crossing mountain passes to connect the prefecture with areas along the Sea of Japan. Nature abounds in Hiroshima Prefecture, which is surrounded both by ocean and mountains. Attractions include Setonaikai (Seto Inland Sea) National Park, Hibadogo-Taishaku Quasi-National Park, and West Chugoku Mountains Quasi-National Park. Hiroshima City is known to the world as the first city ever attacked by an atomic bomb. There you will find the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome(Genbaku Dome), which symbolizes the importance of world peace. Adjacent to the Genbaku Dome, which has been inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage Site, is the Peace Memorial Park.

Miyajima

Miyajima Island is the popular name of Itsuku-shima Island, situated in Hatsukaichi City in southwestern Hiroshima. It is a scenic site in which the mountains, sea, and red shrine buildings blend together in harmony, and the entire island is designated as a historic site. It is said to be one of the three most beautiful sights in Japan, along with Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture and Ama-no-hashidate in Kyoto. The origin of Miyajima is said to date back to when the Itsuku-shima-jinja Shrine was built in 593, the year Empress Suiko took the throne. But the island of Miyajima itself has had a long history of being an object of worship, especially its Mt. Mi-sen that rises up at the center of the island. Men of power always worshiped and protected Miyajima.

Children's Peace Monument

The monument is located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Designed by native artists Kazuo Kikuchi and Kiyoshi Ikebe, the monument was built using money derived from a fund-raising campaign by Japanese school children including Sadako's classmates, with the main statue entitled 'A-bomb Children' being unveiled on the 5th of May, 1958, or Children's Day in Japan. Sadako is immortalized at the top of the statue, where she holds a crane. Thousands of origami cranes from all over the world are offered around the monument on a daily basis, with ancient Japanese tradition holding that one who folds a thousand cranes can have one wish granted. They serve as a sign that the children who make them and those who visit the statue desire a world without nuclear war, having been tied to the statue by the story that Sadako died from radiation-induced leukemia after folding just under a thousand cranes, wishing for world peace. However, an exhibit which appeared in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum stated that by the end of August, 1955, Sadako had achieved her goal and continued to fold more cranes. Unfortunately, her wish was not granted; she died of the leukemia on October 25, 1955.